News: Amazon Adding Virtual Try-On from L'Oréal's ModiFace to Its Beauty Products

Cosmetics augmented reality specialist ModiFace appears to be really benefiting from the brand power of L'Oréal, which acquired the company last year.

Now, after Facebook added ModiFace to its AR platform earlier this year, online retail behemoth Amazon is following suit and has agreed to use ModiFace's technology for cosmetics products on its web store. Running on Amazon Web Services, the try-before-you-buy tools from ModiFace will be available for lipstick sold to US and Japan-based customers.

"We are excited to team up with ModiFace to make shopping for cosmetics online even easier by offering customers the ability to virtually try-on before they buy," said Nicolas Le Bourgeois, head of Amazon Beauty, in a statement. "With this new AI-powered virtual experience, Amazon customers can now conveniently try-on thousands of lipstick products, save photos on their devices to share with friends and ultimately purchase with greater confidence — wherever they are, whenever they want, with products delivered right to their doorstep. This launch is another important milestone in our vision to be the best possible place for customers to discover and buy beauty products online."

• Don't Miss: ModiFace Applies Its Augmented Reality Tech to Nail Polish with Fingertip-Tracking Feature

To try the experience for yourself, navigate to the Makeup section of the Beauty & Personal Care department on the Amazon app for iOS or Android. A banner announcing that the availability of lipstick try-on covers the top half of the makeup page, and tapping the banner will filter the product selection to lipsticks with virtual try-on experiences.

After clicking into a specific product, shoppers will see a "Try Now" button under the product photos. On the next screen, shoppers can select from live mode or photo mode, where they can either upload a photo or select a model with a similar skin tone.

Under live mode (assuming camera permissions are accepted), shoppers can select from the various shades available for the product, with their lip color changing instantly in the camera view. Shoppers can also adjust the intensity of the representation before capturing a screenshot for posterity.

"We are delighted to team up with Amazon to provide its customers an augmented reality makeup try-on that offers highly realistic results and makes online shopping even more comfortable. Thanks to a precise color rendering, enabled by our unique AI-powered technology, shoppers can easily try-on thousands of lipsticks available on Amazon and purchase the shades that fit them best," said Parham Aarabi, CEO of ModiFace.

Snagging Amazon's cosmetics business solidifies ModiFace's position as the leader in cosmetics AR tools, though YouCam makes a strong case as a contender given its role as the AR provider for Target's virtual try-on tool. In either case, it does not look like augmented reality is falling out of fashion with cosmetics industry anytime soon.

• Follow Next Reality on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Flipboard
• Sign up for Next Reality's daily, weekly, or monthly newsletters
• Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Flipboard